Precise imaging of portions of the anatomy is an increasingly important technique in the medical and surgical fields. In order to lessen the trauma to a patient caused by invasive surgery, techniques have been developed for performing surgical procedures within the body through small incisions with minimal invasion. These procedures generally require the surgeon to operate on portions of the anatomy that are not directly visible, or can be seen only with difficulty. Furthermore, some parts of the body contain extremely complex or small structures and it is necessary to enhance the visibility of these structures to enable the surgeon to perform more delicate procedures. In addition, planning such procedures required the evaluation of the location and orientation of these structures within the body in order to determine the optimal surgical trajectory.
Endoscopy is one commonly employed technique for visualizing internal regions of interest within a patient. Flexible endoscopes enable surgeons to visually inspect a region prior to or during surgery. However, flexible endoscopes are relatively expensive, limited in flexibility due to construction and obscured by blood and other biological materials.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a cost effective alternative technique for visualizing an internal regions of interest within a patient.